Global Threat: Terrorism

Discussion Questions:1. What happened September 11, 2001?

2. How has this event changed the world we live in? Examples?

3. Osama Bin Laden was killed by American forces. How did Americans react to this? How did Chinese react to this?

4. Did younger and older people react differently? Why?

Listening ActivityThe following is piece from a radio program

called This American Life, a weekly radio program that tells stories about life in America.

You will hear 4 voices: US President, Barack ObamaHost, Ira GlassProducer/reporter, Sarah KoenigInterviewee, Lexi Belculfine

President Obama: Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda.

Ira Glass: That's President Obama, of course, Sunday night. One of our producers, Sarah Koenig was in a college town, State College, Pennsylvania, where she heard the noise of students shouting and blowing horns and what sounded like fire crackers on Sunday night. And since she wasn't watching TV, she had no idea what this was about. She thought maybe they had won a big game or something. She actually called the cops, who also at that point had no idea what it was about. And all week, she kept thinking about the hugeness of the students' reaction.

Sarah Koenig: When I heard Monday morning about Osama bin Laden, my reaction was, "Oh, wow," at about that decibel (声分贝标准 ). The difference between that and this [CROWD CHANTING USA AND CHEERING]-- This is what was happening about three blocks away when I called the cops on Sunday. Thousands, maybe 5,000 or 6,000 Penn State students massed ( 召集了 ) on Beaver Avenue.

Sarah Koenig: You've probably seen the pictures or read the accounts by now, young people letting loose all over the country. Here, there was all kinds of patriotic ( 爱国的 ) singing. Someone lit a small fire, and kids were jumping over it. A guy dressed like Captain America was body surfing the crowd. [CROWD NOISE]

Sarah Koenig: And by the end of the week, there'd been a bunch of stories in the papers about these September 11th kids, the so-called millenials, young, loyal Americans for whom Osama bin Laden was the boogie man, their Voldemort. But I still didn't quite get it-- the taking to the streets, all the revelry （ 狂欢 ） . And I know I'm not 20 years old, and I like to go to bed around 11:30 instead of putting on my superhero outfit. But still, the difference between their reaction and that of everyone I know over 30-- that difference is a gulf.

Sarah Koenig: So I asked some of the kids who were there that night. Where did this outpouring ( 溢於言表） of feeling come from? Why did they take this news so personally? I'm just going to play you the tape from the interview that finally helped me understand it. The girl speaking is Lexi Belculfine. She's a junior. She's 20 years old, editor of the school's daily newspaper. She's got a poster of Dave Matthews above her bed. And what she explained to me is that her fear, after September 11th, wasn't some abstraction ( 空想 ). It was real and lasting.

Lexi Belculfine: I distinctly remember being very afraid for a very long time. Yeah, I definitely was. I guess it was just a realization of how quickly everything could be ripped out from under you, that these huge, catastrophic ( 灾 难 性 ) things can happen. That was really frightening. After September 11th, I wouldn‘t even look at a plane basically. I live 10 minutes from the Pittsburgh International Airport. So we watch the planes go right into the airport.

Lexi Belculfine: And it just gave me this incredibly uneasy fear of planes, of flying. And you know, it's silly, but I was 11 and didn't understand it. And I needed something to be afraid of, so I chose flying.

I think that you could probably even say that that feeling, being eleven and not understanding and being scared and confused and frightened, is why everyone was so excited Sunday night.

Lexi Belculfine: Because we all kind of carried that fear with us. We definitely must have. Because if not, then I don't think Sunday night would have happened.

And so I think that this moment wasn't necessarily an end point, but was the closest thing that we had felt. It was this big indicator that there could be an end.

Sarah Koenig: Oh right. Because if you're you, and like most of your cognizant ( 认识到 ) life has been different versions of the same situation, which is that we are at war with this sort of shadowy ( 神 出 鬼 没 ) network, I could totally see how it feels like it's never going to end.

Lexi Belculfine: And that's exactly how it feels. It's kind of neat for me. My little sister-- my mom was pregnant with her September 11th. She was seven months pregnant I think. And now, she's in third grade. I don't know. I really, the past couple of days, I've been thinking about her a lot. And I'm almost really excited for her because she doesn't know about any of this. She doesn't understand any of this. And for me, at least, it was this moment that I realized that maybe Chloe won't have to have the same confusing years as a 12, 13, 14, 15-year-old.

Sarah Koenig: Did you feel like, well, maybe she never has to know now?

Lexi Belculfine: Exactly. And that was a really cool feeling for me.

Sarah Koenig: Did you even know before Sunday night that you were waiting for an end point? Do you know what I'm saying? Like before the feeling came, did you even know, "Oh, this is the feeling I've wanted to have all this time"?

Lexi Belculfine: It's really interesting, because I don't think that I had. I don't know that I necessarily felt the way that I did until I'm watching 6,000 of my peers in the streets celebrating. But I had no idea.

Sarah Koenig: When I'd asked another student why he and his friends cared so much about what happened Sunday since they were just little kids when September 11th happened-- it didn't happen to them. He shot back, "No. It didn't happen to you guys. It happened to us."

Post Listening Questions

With one partner, please discuss the following questions:

1. How did the students react upon hearing the news of bin Laden’s death?

2. Do you think their actions were appropriate?

3. What would you do in their situation?4. At the end, what did the student mean when

he said, “No. It didn't happen to you guys. It happened to us.”?